Chapter 3: Guerrillas

This chapter presents an overview of guerrilla organizations and actions as part of the irregular OPFOR for training U.S. forces. Training conditions presented by this type of OPFOR are a composite of real-world guerrilla forces and indicate guerrilla capabilities and limitations that may be present in actual operational environments (OEs). Guerrilla combat power can be enhanced by possible affiliations with other combatants such as insurgents, criminal elements, special-purpose forces (SPF), or regular military forces. Passive or active civilian supporters can expand guerrilla capabilities.

General Characteristics

A guerrilla force is a group of irregular, predominantly indigenous personnel organized along military lines to conduct military and paramilitary operations in enemy-held, hostile, or denied territory (JP 3-05). Thus, guerrilla units are an irregular force, but structured similar to regular military forces. They resemble military forces in their command and control (C2) and can use military-like tactics and techniques. Guerrillas normally operate in areas occupied by an enemy or where a hostile actor threatens their intended purpose and objectives. Therefore, guerrilla units adapt to circumstances and available resources in order to sustain or improve their combat power. Guerrillas do not necessarily comply with international law or conventions on the conduct of armed conflict between and among declared belligerents.

Scope and Duration of Operations

The area of operations (AOR) for guerrilla units may be quite large in relation to the size of the force. The reason for this is that a large number of small guerrilla units can be widely dispersed. Guerrilla operations may occur as independent squad or team actions. In other cases, operations could involve a guerrilla brigade and/or independent units at battalion, company, and platoon levels. A guerrilla unit can be an independent paramilitary organization and/or a military-like component of an insurgency. Guerrilla actions focus on the tactical level of conflict and its operational impacts. Guerrilla units can operate at various levels of local, regional, or international reach. In some cases, transnational affiliations can provide significant support to guerrilla operations.

Guerrilla forces are adaptive, flexible, and agile in quickly changing their composition to optimize organizational capabilities against known or perceived vulnerabilities of an enemy. Guerrillas exploit familiarity with their physical environment and the ability to blend into the local populace. Small guerrilla units have great mobility and ability to move throughout enemy-occupied areas.

Guerrillas seek to gain small psychological victories. These victories do not need to be significant in terms of material damage to the enemy. These tactical victories only need to show that a small guerrilla force can defeat [at least parts of] a much larger enemy force.

Guerrilla forces take prudent risks when an expectation exists for successful attack on an enemy, but may also make significant practical sacrifices in individuals and materiel in order to achieve a major psychological impact on an enemy. Guerrillas also apply information warfare (INFOWAR) capabilities to weaken or exhaust enemy resolve.

Ultimately, the resolve of guerrilla leaders and members of guerrilla organizations determines how long to continue guerrilla operations. Time is a key factor that guerrilla forces use as a combat multiplier in a long-term commitment to degrade and eventually defeat the will of an enemy. The goal is not necessarily to defeat enemy forces but to outlast them. This long-term struggle includes a full range of actions that range from espionage and media manipulation to more violent actions such as sabotage, assassination, bombing, ambushes, and raids. Guerrillas can use acts of terrorism to achieve either selective or random psychological stress and physical damage or destruction. Actions are typically quick and violent, followed by rapid dispersal of assembled guerrilla forces.

Factors that affect the scope and duration of guerrilla operations include—

The level of sympathetic support from an indigenous relevant population.
Regional sociological demographics and ethnic-racial relationships and tensions.
Governance actions and support services to a relevant population by a civil or military authority in a contested region.
Economic stability and disproportionate distribution of benefits to a relevant population.
Physical and seasonal aspects of topography and climate.
The amount of covert or overt support from organizations or states with interests in a contested region.

Note. TC 7-100.2 complements this publication in regard to tactics, and FM 7-100.4 provides details of organization, manning, weapons, and equipment. For weapons and equipment data, see the Worldwide Equipment Guide.

Relationships With Other Organizations and Actors

Guerrillas can act separately from other groups, organizations, and/or activities in conflict with the same enemy or act in conjunction with them to pursue common objectives. Depending on local or regional conditions, some guerrilla units may be affiliated with or subordinate to regular forces or an insurgent organization, or they may operate as independent of such organizations. Regular forces can provide overt and covert support for guerrilla operations, including the expertise of advisors, liaison teams, and SPF. Guerrilla units can be associated with regular forces on a temporary basis for particular missions, but would be incorporated into regular forces only when their capabilities are similar to those of the regular forces operating in the same geographic area.

Note. Affiliated organizations are those operating in another organization’s AOR that the latter organization may be able to sufficiently influence to act in concert with it for a limited time. No command relationship exists between an affiliated organization and the organization in whose AOR it operates.

Guerrillas are more likely to be incorporated in and subordinate to an insurgent organization when both are parts of the irregular OPFOR. A guerrilla organization that is affiliated with or subordinate to an insurgent organization may also be affiliated with SPF, other regular military forces, and/or criminal elements. Guerrillas will generally accept help from any other organization as long as it meets a need and is compatible with the guerrilla force’s interests and objectives.

Guerrillas can be part of the Hybrid Threat (HT). The HT can be any combination of two or more of the following components: regular forces, irregular forces (such as guerrillas and/or insurgents), and/or criminal elements. Possible HT combinations include guerrillas operating openly with regular military forces or various forms of covert cooperation or support. (See TC 7-100 for detailed discussion on the HT.)

Guerrilla associations with other actors in a contested region can vary, and relationships may change periodically during a long-term conflict. Guerrillas may have relationships with local or higher-level insurgent organizations or criminal organizations. If a standing relationship does exist among guerrillas and other irregular OPFOR or HT actors, any allegiance or affiliation may be focused on single-issue agreements or a mutual ideological commitment. Affiliation with criminal organizations is dependent upon the mutual needs of a criminal organization and a guerrilla unit or may be a contractual arrangement for specific tasks. Guerrilla activities often overlap with criminal activities.

In addition to possible affiliations with insurgent, criminal, or regular military organizations, guerrilla units may also be affiliated with supportive civilians, perhaps covert informal support networks acting with a façade such as a charitable organization. The support provided by different categories of civilians can include—

Coerced support of guerrilla actions.
Passive support by people sympathetic to the goals of the guerrillas.
Actors actively supporting and engaging in combat support or sustainment of the guerrillas. Guerrillas may depend heavily on the active and passive support from the local population (see chapter 1).

Note. Active sympathizers may provide important logistics services but not directly participate in combat operations. If they participate in guerrilla activities, they become guerrillas.

Affiliation With Special-purpose Forces

When guerrilla organizations are affiliated with the military forces of an external nation-state, they are most likely to be associated with special-purpose forces (SPF). SPF carry out operations either independently or in coordination with regular and/or irregular forces (such as guerrillas). In some cases, SPF can provide funding for specific guerrilla activities or for the entire guerrilla organization. (See chapter 15 of TC 7-100.2 for more information on SPF.)

The nature of shared goals or interests determines the tenure and type of relationship and the degree of affiliation between SPF and guerrillas. For example, the affiliation of an SPF detachment with guerrilla organizations is dependent only on the needs of the guerrilla organization or on the needs of the SPF at a particular time. The relational dynamics of SPF units are very fluid and apt to change from one day to the next. For example, if an SPF mission requires close cooperation with guerrilla forces, those guerrilla units can be included in the SPF task organization with the appropriate command and support relationships.

SPF can recruit, organize, train, advise, and support guerrillas and conduct (or lead) operations in conjunction with them. SPF personnel may fight alongside such affiliates or assist them to prepare for offensive actions, diversionary measures, or other missions. In some cases, the SPF will not only advise and assist but actually control (command) the guerrilla units as a surrogate force. When guerrilla forces support SPF teams, the SPF teams can serve as the planning and command element for these forces.

SPF sappers can accompany and/or augment guerrilla units. SPF sappers can train affiliated guerrillas as sappers. SPF battalions using sappers in an assault and/or demolition role may need to form several sapper platoons. In that case, the additional sapper platoons may be manned by affiliated guerrillas or may be a mixture of SPF and guerrillas. SPF sappers can guide guerrillas through enemy lines and obstacles to perform their missions (or guerrilla sappers can do the same for SPF teams). An SPF sapper team may serve with and train guerrillas on how to infiltrate, set demolitions, and assault enemy installations. In some cases, the SPF sappers may train guerillas in the manufacture and employment of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and signal flares. In other cases, an SPF sapper team may manufacture the IEDs and signal flares and then give them to guerrillas to emplace and/or detonate.

The deep attack and reconnaissance platoon of an SPF battalion typically operates in enemy-held territory. Its missions can include assisting guerrillas in offensive actions or providing communications, liaison, and support to stay-behind guerrillas and guerrilla activities in the defense. Almost any type of SPF unit can do the same.

The long-range signal platoon of an SPF battalion or a signal team from an SPF company can assist in training affiliated guerrillas on how to set up, operate, maintain, and transport communications equipment. SPF signal teams may accompany and/or augment guerrilla units and support guerrilla operations. A single small SPF signal team can provide long-range communications support for guerrilla units up to battalion size. A full SPF signal team can do the same for a brigade-size unit. This team may also serve in a signals reconnaissance collection role.

Various other types of SPF teams may accompany and/or augment guerrilla units and provide them with support whenever necessary. Such teams include the following:

SPF sniper teams, who may serve as part of a stay-behind element or a hunter-killer (HK) team. SPF snipers can also train guerrillas to serve as snipers or marksmen.
SPF mortar teams, who may provide mortar support to guerrilla forces. They can also provide mortars to the guerillas and train them in the proper use and maintenance of mortars.
SPF air defense teams, who may provide air defense support to guerrilla forces. They can also provide air defense weapons to the guerillas and train them in the proper use and maintenance of those weapons.
SPF medical teams, who may provide medical supplies and medical support to guerrilla forces. Each SPF medical team is designed to provide medical support for guerrilla units up to brigade size. A small medical team can support a battalion-size force. These teams can also train guerrilla forces on how to perform emergency medicine, battlefield medical procedures, and evacuation.
SPF unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) teams, who may provide UAV support to guerrilla forces, including the acquisition of reconnaissance information on targets or facilities.
SPF diver teams, who may provide diving support to guerrilla forces, including water infiltration, reconnaissance, and demolition. These teams can also provide diving equipment to guerrilla forces and train them in its use.

Note. In some instances, SPF can provide guerrilla units with new or high-technology niche weapons and equipment and train them to use it.

When SPF are to be air-dropped into an area known to contain a guerrilla force of sufficient size and nature to warrant cultivating as an affiliated force, the guerrilla force, in all probability, will be receptive to outside support. Other SPF or regular military forces may have trained the guerrilla force as drop zone reception personnel. Once on the ground, the SPF team or detachment attempts to make contact with the guerrilla forces.

Logistics

Because guerrillas typically operate in enemy-held, hostile, or denied territory, they must acquire a self-sustaining capability. Although they typically rely on some support from the local population, they need to avoid enemy retribution on the population and/or dissatisfaction of the population with the demands of supporting a guerrilla force. One example of self-sustainment is to acquire weapons, ammunition, supplies, transportation assets, and other commodities by raiding or ambushing enemy forces, locations, and installations. In another example of self-sustainment, civilian medical facilities may be used to treat guerrillas on a case-by-case clandestine basis, but a preferred capability is to develop medical treatment stations and convalescence sites integral to guerrilla safe havens or complex battle positions.

Guerrilla units normally have sufficient assets to transport munitions and materiel for the immediate short-term fight. Organic transportation and use of available resources of the local area provide the guerrillas a degree of autonomy and freedom of action. For a sustained fight, however, guerrillas normally require additional support and sources to transport or stage materiel. Such sources can include transport assets from higher guerrilla organizations to transport materiel or preposition items in caches for resupply. For example, a guerrilla battalion might depend on support from the brigade’s transport company, or a guerrilla company might receive support from the battalion’s transport platoon. Other external sources may include civilian augmentation.

A guerrilla brigade or its subordinates may be augmented by military or civilian vehicles (motorcycles, trucks, cars, bicycles, carts, or high-mobility/all terrain vehicles) or personnel depending on the mission. Local sympathizers may volunteer their equipment and services. The guerrilla commander may requisition or confiscate local civilian transportation assets and materiel. This includes the use of civilian personnel for porters. Vehicles are a mix of military and civilian. The guerrillas may have no vehicles at all and depend completely on caches, porters, or other transportation or supply means.

Requirements for obtaining supplies and services from a local population are evaluated in conjunction with the sustainment needs of the population. Support to guerrillas from communities is coordinated with a willing population, but is sometimes coerced due to tactical needs of the guerrilla force. Guerrillas recognize that recurring requisition or confiscation of materiel may alienate the population. Therefore, the guerrillas may institute a system for receipts and eventual compensation of the citizenry.

Sustained combat and/or participation in a fight by guerrilla units may require significant operational, administrative, and logistics support from regular military forces operating in the same geographic area. This type of regular forces support complements the significant sustainment that guerrillas require from a local or regional populace. As a basic level of logistics support, guerrillas subsist primarily from locally available resources. This limitation influences the size of a guerrilla unit and its proximity to other guerrilla units.

Personnel

Guerrillas often come from impoverished backgrounds and are used to hardships. Typically, they are young and in good physical condition. They can make do with less by both design and background.

The military-like organizational structure and intent of a guerrilla unit is often accompanied by a military style of clothing or uniform, equipment and weapons, and distinctive badges or insignia. However, a guerrilla may not always wear a military-like uniform. They may wear civilian clothing and be indistinguishable from the local population (other than weaponry, which they may conceal or discard). Although most guerrillas are armed, they may seek to avoid being identified as guerrillas by giving the appearance that their weapons are part of their normal civilian occupation or activities. Weapons and other materiel may be concealed until they are needed for a guerrilla action.

Some, or all, guerrillas may be part-time fighters and melt back into the civilian population when not assembled to conduct operations. Guerrillas may continue their normal positions in society and lead clandestine lives as members of a guerrilla organization. They may be a local resident one moment and a guerrilla the next.

Guerrillas may be a mixture of men, women, and children. Women and children may be used as runners, messengers, scouts, guides, suicide bombers, drivers, porters, snipers, lookouts, or in other roles. They may also emplace and/or detonate IEDs, signal flares, and mines. Women (and possibly children) may be fighters and participate in drive-by shootings, assassinations, and/or assaults.

Since most guerrillas are indigenous to the area in which they are fighting, their knowledge of the local population, customs, issues, language, and terrain are first hand. They use this understanding to develop working relationships with the populace. They can apply this knowledge to win support, develop intelligence networks, gain new recruits, and/or develop effective propaganda. If the guerrillas are not able to persuade the local populace to provide support, they have the force to coerce them.

Note. Members of a guerilla force are predominantly indigenous to the region but may include personnel who are not indigenous to a particular guerrilla unit’s AOR and may have characteristics significantly different from most of the guerrilla force or the local population.

Base Camps and Training Camps

Like any other armed force, guerrillas have requirements for C2, rest, resupply, refit, and training. The larger the guerrilla force and the more active they are, the more they will need established bases, both semipermanent and temporary.

Guerrillas who are part-time fighters may prefer to continue to live in their own homes. They would assemble into guerrilla units only for the time necessary to carry out a mission and then return to their homes. They would establish and occupy base camps only if security does not permit them to live at home or in order to prepare for actions involving more than just a few squads or HK teams. Platoon and larger organizations typically operate out of a base camp.

Guerrilla forces may need to avoid large concentrations of troops in camps. Even though logistics conditions may permit large troop concentrations, commands normally are broken up into small camps and widely dispersed. Dispersion facilitates concealment, mobility, and security. Large forces may be concentrated to perform specific operations. On completing the operation, the force is dispersed quickly into small units.

Base camps must be relatively safe and secure in areas where guerrillas can rest, eat, and plan. More sophisticated guerrilla base camps have command posts, training areas, communications facilities, medical stations, and logistics centers. These base camps, however, are not the same as bases of regular military forces. They are usually small in overall scope, spread out, and sometimes underground. Guerrillas try to locate base camps within guerrilla-controlled areas where cover and concealment provide security against detection. In rural areas, base camps tend to be in areas where the guerrillas have popular support. Urban guerrillas may rent or confiscate houses for use as temporary bases for small guerrilla forces, such as HK teams. Guerrillas will normally avoid battling over their base camp. If the site is discovered, the guerrillas will abandon it and move to another location. Routes into a base camp will be constantly observed for security. Mines, signal flares, IEDs, and ambushes are used as standard security enhancements. If surprised or cornered, guerrillas will vigorously defend themselves with a delaying action while evacuating key personnel and equipment.

Common characteristics of guerrilla base camps are—

Covered and concealed.
Located on remote, rough, and inaccessible terrain.
Suitable for bivouac.
Well defined and defended perimeter.
Planned escape routes.

Guerrilla base camps are temporary or semipermanent and depend on secrecy for their existence. These bases are kept small, and usually there is more than one base in the guerrilla unit’s AOR. Guerrillas typically use four types of base camps:

The main camp.
Reserve camps that are in a preselected location and would be occupied if the main camp must be permanently evacuated.
Temporary camps located close to current combat operations and occupied only during those operations.
False camps located away from main and reserve camps to deceive enemy forces.

Guerrillas favor level, well-drained campsites with good water supply, natural fuel, cover, and adequate vegetation to provide concealment from visual observation. The preferred camps are also chosen with a view toward easy access to the target population, access to a friendly or neutral border, good escape routes, and good observation of approach routes for enemy forces. When enemy operations force the guerrillas out of their preferred base camps, they tend to establish camps in rugged, inhospitable areas not easily penetrated by enemy forces.

Base Camp Security

To provide security against detection, guerrillas attempt to locate base camps in areas with cover and concealment. Usually, the rougher the terrain, the less likely is the chance of being surprised by enemy forces. While guerrillas avoid defensive combat, they emphasize short-term defensive action in the base camp vicinity to aid evacuation, if necessary.

Base camps are usually in relatively remote areas for security. To preclude accidental discovery, base camps are not usually near inhabited areas. However, because the guerrillas must be able to fulfill their logistics needs, their base camp usually will not be more than a day’s march from a village or town.

Guerrilla camps are normally located away from roads, main trails, and civilian communities. The surrounding terrain should obstruct rapid enemy approach into the area. The site of the camp should provide concealed evacuation routes. The camp is surrounded by guard and warning systems. Prepared positions are organized to delay or destroy enemy forces when this action becomes necessary or desirable. Almost every base camp is surrounded by observation posts, preferably located on hilltops. From these posts, an early alert is passed enabling timely evacuation of the area.

Training Camps

Guerrilla training camps may be established in both urban and rural environments. While some training is accomplished in urban safe houses or rural guerrilla base camps, most training is accomplished at locations focused on training. This may be a special urban safe house, a remote guerilla base camp, or a training center in another country.

Guerrilla Organizations

Guerrillas use a military-like organizational structure for C2 and conduct of operations. For example, the basic building block of a guerrilla organization may be a squad consisting of two fire teams. Such squads are the basis for building guerrilla platoons, companies, battalions, and brigades. However, guerrilla commanders can task-organize these units for specific actions. Even prior to specific actions, whole guerrilla companies may already be restructured (task-organized) as hunter-killer (HK) companies, made up HK groups, HK sections and HK teams. When a guerrilla battalion consists predominantly of HK companies, it may be called a guerrilla HK battalion. When a guerrilla brigade consists predominantly of HK battalions (or conceivably of multiple separate HK companies), it may be called a guerrilla HK brigade.

Note. Although this chapter and FM 7-100.4 present typical structures of guerrilla units, these forces are also irregular in the sense that individual units can vary in manning, weapons, and materiel.

Guerrilla organizations may be as large as several brigades or as small as a platoon and/or independent HK teams. Often a brigade-size guerrilla force may not be appropriate for a particular mission or area AOR. It may be too large, and a task-organized guerrilla battalion may be sufficient. An example task-organized battalion might have four or five HK companies, organic battalion units, a weapons battery (with a composite of mortar, rocket launcher, and antitank platoons) from brigade, and possibly intelligence and INFOWAR augmentations.

The hierarchy of military-like terms for guerrilla units (from the bottom up) is as follows:

Team or HK team.
Squad or HK section.
Platoon or HK group.
Company or HK company.
Battalion (or HK battalion).
Brigade (or HK brigade.)

Note. Some guerrilla organizations may have honorific titles that do not reflect their true nature or size. For example, a guerrilla force that is actually of no more than battalion size may call itself a “brigade,” a “corps,” or an “army.” A guerrilla organization may also refer to itself as a “militia.” This is a loose usage of the term militia, which generally refers to citizens trained as soldiers (as opposed to professional soldiers), but applies more specifically to a state-sponsored militia that is part of the state’s armed forces but subject to call only in emergency. To avoid confusion, the TC 7-100 series uses militia only in the latter sense.

Guerrilla units can be independent units or can be associated with insurgent organizations at local, regional, provincial, national, or transnational levels. Organizational relationships between guerrillas and insurgents can fluctuate and be mission dependent, event-oriented, mutually coordinated, and/or coerced for a specific temporary purpose. The relationship may be one of loose affiliation or involve a more formal command relationship. When an insurgency includes guerrilla units, the units may be under the C2 of a local insurgent organization or of a higher insurgent organization. The relationships may be temporary and remain in effect only as long as the both insurgent organization and guerrilla unit mutually benefit.

Note. The guerrilla organization diagrams of FM 7-100.4 (on which examples in this chapter are based) and the personnel and equipment lists that accompany them are a baseline that U.S. Army trainers can modify to provide the appropriate level of combat power as part of the conditions required for a particular training exercise and/or training task. The organizational directories of FM 7-100.4 provide detailed information on manning, weapons, and equipment for a typical guerrilla brigade and its subordinate units, which represent a composite of actual guerrilla forces.

FM 7-100.4 provides detailed step-by-step instructions on how to construct a task organization based on the training requirements. FM 7-100.4 also describes how to select equipment options. See also, TC 7-101 for guidance on creating the appropriate OPFOR order of battle during exercise design.

Guerrilla Brigade

The composition of a guerrilla brigade may vary. The structure depends on several factors, including the physical environment, sociological demographics and relationships, economics, and support available from external organizations and/or countries. A guerrilla brigade may have over 4,000 guerrillas or may have specified units significantly reduced in strength. Figure 3-2 shows an example of such a brigade. The typical composition of a full-strength guerrilla brigade may be as follows:

Brigade headquarters.
Three or more guerrilla battalions.
Weapons battalion.
Reconnaissance company.
Sapper company.
Transport company.
Signal platoon.
Medical platoon.

Guerrilla units are tailored organizational structures based on the conditions of a particular OE and available manning, weapons, and equipment. The following are some examples of such tailoring:

In a particular OE, a guerrilla brigade could be a multi-battalion combat force operating in several AORs, with a full range of combat support (CS) and combat service support (CSS) units (as in figure 3-2) and possibly affiliated with regular military forces.
In mountainous or forested areas with no major population centers, a guerrilla brigade might have only one or two battalions (or five or six separate companies) with little or no additional CS or CSS. Options could include widely dispersed companies depending on sustainment from local resources in a rural context or materiel obtained from defeated enemy forces and isolated enemy installations.
A guerrilla brigade based in a major urban-industrial center or a megalopolis would probably have a distinctly different structure of combat, CS, and CSS capabilities, tailored to readily available resources within a densely packed population and urban terrain.

Guerrilla Brigade Headquarters

The guerrilla brigade headquarters consists of the brigade command group, brigade staff, and a headquarters and service section. The personnel and functions of these organizations are described below.

Brigade Command Group

The brigade command group includes the brigade commander and deputy commander (DC). Guerrilla commanders have complete authority over their subordinates and overall responsibility for those subordinates’ actions. In the event the commander is killed or incapacitated, the DC assumes command. The brigade chief of staff (COS) is considered part of the command group but actually heads the brigade staff.

Brigade Staff

The brigade COS exercises direct control over the brigade staff and is in charge of the main command post (CP) in the absence of the brigade commander. His role is to direct staff planning and coordinate all staff inputs that assist the commander’s decisionmaking. He is the commander’s and DC’s focal point for knowledge about the friendly and enemy situation.

The brigade staff has three primary staff officers: operations officer, intelligence officer, and officer. Each of these heads one the following staff sections:

Operations section.
Intelligence and information section.
Resources section.

Operations Section

The brigade operations section is the basis of the main CP. The brigade COS normally resides with this section. Operational signature is small. Whenever possible, staff functions are performed in tents, tunnels, caves, or local accommodations. When mounted, the main CP usually operates from command and staff vehicles. The brigade commander determines how to organize C2 of the brigade and how many CPs will be activated. The operations section is structured to simultaneously support a main CP and an auxiliary CP. A forward CP may also be required.

Note. Guerrilla brigades and battalions may not have all the types of CPs discussed here. However, specific situations may require various types.

The brigade operations section includes the operations officer (who also serves as the deputy COS), the chief of current operations (who also serves as assistant operations officer), and the chief of future operations. The latter two officers each head subsections.

Current Operations Subsection. The chief of current operations serves as the representative of the commander, COS, or operations officer in their absence and has the authority to control forces in accordance with the commander’s intent.

Future Operations Subsection. The chief of future operations monitors the friendly and enemy situations and their implications for future actions. He advised the commander on how to make adjustments to the battle plan during the fight.

Functional Staff. Functional staff elements may augment the brigade operations section when required. These experts in particular functions (such as fire support) advise the brigade command group and staff on issues pertaining to their individual areas of expertise.

Liaison Teams. The operations section may also receive liaison teams from subordinate and affiliated units that perform tasks in support of those. Liaison teams are not a permanent part of the brigade staff structure. They support the brigade staff with detailed expertise in particular functional areas and provide direct communications to their parent organizations. SPF advisors and liaison personnel from regular military forces may operate from the brigade headquarters or may be located at lower echelons. The brigade staff may also receive liaison and advisory teams from organizations covertly or overtly supporting guerrilla operations. Their purpose may be based on functional military expertise for guerrilla unit operations or may support selected political, economic, social, or INFOWAR tasks. If the guerrilla brigade is affiliated with or subordinate to an insurgent organization, a political advisor may also be present.

Intelligence and Information Section

The intelligence and information section provides intelligence on the current and future OE. It also provides insights on opportunities for ongoing and future operations and windows of opportunity. At least one representative from the intelligence and information section is part of, and accompanies, each auxiliary or forward CP. This section has three subsections: reconnaissance, INFOWAR, and communications.

Reconnaissance Subsection. The chief of reconnaissance, who heads this subsection, develops reconnaissance plans, gathers information, and evaluates data on the OE. He supervises the efforts of subordinate reconnaissance units.

INFOWAR Subsection. The chief of INFOWAR, who heads this subsection, coordinates the employment of INFOWAR assets, both at brigade level and in subordinate units. This subsection oversees the planning and execution of all elements of INFOWAR (see appendix A).

Communications Subsection. The chief of communications and his subsection plan the use of all forms of communication and communications security. The subsection may be augmented by personnel from the brigade’s signal platoon when necessary.

Resources

The resources officer is responsible for the acquisition, distribution, and care of all the brigade’s resources, both human and materiel. He is also in charge of the brigade’s sustainment CP and may establish multiple sustainment CPs. The resources section may be augmented from the brigade’s transport company when necessary. The section is also structured to accommodate augmentation from the functional staff and liaison teams. It consists of two subsections: logistics and administration.

Logistics Subsection. The chief of logistics heads the brigade logistics system. He supervises transportation support. He is responsible for the acquisition and distribution of supplies to sustain the brigade. He is also responsible for the all armament accountability, readiness, supply, utilization, repair, and evacuation.

Administration Subsection. The chief of administration supervises all personnel actions and transactions. This subsection assigns personnel and records losses.

Headquarters and Service Section

The headquarters and service section provides supply and transportation support to the brigade headquarters. It includes a command team, a support team, and a supply and transport team.

Weapons Battalion

The weapons battalion of a guerrilla brigade typically consists of the following units:

Battalion headquarters.
Towed mortar battery.
Rocket launcher battery.
Antitank battery.
Signal section.
Transport section.

This battalion provides fire support to any other subordinate units of the guerrilla brigade as necessary. In some instances, due to the dispersed nature of guerrilla operations, a battery or parts thereof may be allocated to a particular guerrilla battalion.

Battalion Headquarters

The battalion headquarters consists of a command section and a staff section. The weapons battalion commander locates where he can best support the brigade operations and is often positioned in the vicinity of the brigade commander. The command section also includes the battalion’s deputy commander, who would be in charge of a forward or auxiliary CP, if necessary. The chief of staff (COS) is part of the command group and staff. However, he is usually located with the staff on the battlefield, because he exercises direct control over the battalion staff. He is also in direct charge of the battalion’s main CP in the absence of the commander.

The battalion staff consists of the operations officer (who also serves as the deputy COS), the assistant operations officer (battalion fire direction officer), the intelligence officer, and the resources officer. The COS also serves as the chief of fire support. The signal section leader also serves as the battalion communications officer. The transport section leader serves as the battalion logistics officer. The staff section operates the main CP. During static operations, staff functions are performed in tents, tunnels, caves, or local accommodations. The command and staff vehicles are then dispersed and camouflaged.

Towed Mortar Battery

The towed mortar battery normally consists of—

Headquarters and service section.
Fire coordination platoon.
Two towed mortar platoons.
Supply and transportation section.

The headquarters and service section consists of a command team, a support team, and a supply and transport team. The battery deputy commander (in the support team) normally is also the battery fire direction officer. The fire direction chief (in the fire control section of the fire coordination platoon) assumes the duties of the fire direction officer in the battery deputy commanders’ absence. Depending on mission requirements, either the battery commander or deputy commander remains with the weapons battalion commander to facilitate fire support.

When required, an observation team (from the observation section of the fire coordination platoon) accompanies a guerrilla unit. In this case, the observation section vehicle drops the team off and returns to the section headquarters. Supported units also provide additional observers.

The towed mortar battery normally has six 120-mm mortars—two platoons of three mortar sections each. However, some batteries may have six 100-mm mortars. For normal travel, the light truck (prime mover) of each mortar section carries the mortar crew and ammunition for the immediate fire support mission. For movement over short distances, the 100- or 120-mm mortar can be dismantled into three parts: barrel, bipod, and baseplate. Animals or carts can pack the mortar in its three parts. Additional ammunition bearers may be used when required. Civilians or draft animals may also be used as bearers or porters. The guerrillas may have no vehicles at all and depend on caches, porters, draft animals, or other transportation or resupply means.

Note. Another alternative is for the battery to have nine 81- or 82-mm mortars (not towed), by adding a third mortar platoon.

Rocket Launcher Battery

The rocket launcher battery of the weapons battalion typically consists of—

Headquarters and service section.
Fire coordination platoon.
One multiple rocket launcher (MRL) platoon.
One rocket launcher platoon.

The headquarters and service section and the fire coordination platoon have the same structure and functions as in the towed mortar battery (see above). The MRL and rocket launcher platoons may receive additional transportation support from the weapons battalion headquarters or the brigade transport company.

Multiple Rocket Launcher Platoon

The MRL platoon typically consists of a platoon headquarters and three MRL sections with one 107- mm launcher each. The platoon can be employed as a platoon or broken into separate sections to support guerrilla or HK companies. The 107-mm MRL on a wheeled carriage can be towed by almost any vehicle or pulled by personnel or a yoked animal. Several versions can be broken down into man-packable loads. When moving dismounted for any distance, an MRL section may require augmentation of other guerrillas or civilian personnel to serve as additional ammunition bearers and to move the MRLs.

Single-tube, man-portable, tripod-mounted launchers are also available. Twelve single-tube 107-mm rocket launchers may replace each 12-tube MRL. When using single-tube rocket launchers, a vehicle is not required. However, extra porters and ammunition bearers are then required. Improvised 107-mm rocket firing pads can be constructed using materials such as dirt, bamboo frames, pipes, or crossed stakes.

Rocket Launcher Platoon

The rocket launcher platoon typically consists of a platoon headquarters and six rocket launcher sections. Each section operates two 122-mm single-tube rocket launchers. This provides a total of 12 single-tube rocket launchers in the platoon. When moving dismounted for any distance, a rocket launcher section requires augmentation of other guerrillas or civilian personnel to serve as bearers to transport the launchers and additional rockets.

Typically, each rocket launcher section has one light truck. The truck can carry one or both launchers close to the firing point. The firing team dismounts, transports the launcher to the firing position and prepares it to fire. The team then fires several rockets, probably no more than five, before detection probability is high. Each launcher can fire on individual targets or it can fire preplanned volley fires with other launchers against a single target. The truck (whenever possible) will return and pick up the firing team and launcher. If the truck cannot retrieve the team and launcher, they either join up with another guerrilla unit or exfiltrate to another possible pickup point.

The 122-mm launcher can be broken into two-one man loads for transport. The 122-mm rocket can also be broken into two-one man loads. Improvised 122-mm. rocket firing pads can be constructed using materials such as dirt, bamboo frames, pipes, or crossed stakes. Caches of rockets may be used for resupply.

Antitank Battery

The antitank (AT) battery of the weapons battalion typically consists of a headquarters and service section, three antitank platoons, and one antitank hunter-killer (AT HK) platoon. These platoons can be broken down to support guerrilla or HK companies or their subordinates. The headquarters and service section has the same structure and functions as in the towed mortar battery and rocket launcher battery (see above).

Antitank Platoon

Each AT platoon typically has a platoon headquarters, an antitank guided missile (ATGM) section, and a recoilless gun section. The AT platoon receives transportation support from the battery headquarters and service section or the battalion transport section. Some ATGM and recoilless gun sections may have additional ammunition bearers. Civilians, draft animals, carts, bicycles, and bearers/porters may also be used to assist in transporting the weapons and munitions.

ATGM Section. The ATGM section of the AT platoon typically consists of a section headquarters and four ATGM teams. It may be employed as a section or allocated by team to guerrilla or HK companies. They may also be integrated into AT HK teams at company level. Each ATGM team has one ATGM launcher and carries four ATGMs for its launcher. These and/or additional ATGM launchers may also be dispersed among guerrilla HK teams.

Each ATGM team of the AT battery’s AT platoon typically has four members. This organization is different from an ATGM team in the guerrilla battalion’s weapons company, which has three members. The difference is the addition of one grenadier and his ATGL to the team, and the team may be reconfigured based on the available ATGM system.

Recoilless Gun Section. The recoilless gun section of the AT platoon typically consists of a section headquarters and three recoilless gun teams, each with one recoilless gun. It may be employed as a section or allocated by team to guerrilla or HK companies. When towed, a recoilless gun requires a crew of three. When transported solely by the crew, it requires a crew of at least four. Some recoilless gun sections may have additional ammunition bearers.

Antitank Hunter-Killer Platoon

The AT HK platoon typically consists of a platoon headquarters and three AT HK sections. It may be employed as a platoon or by sections. It may also be broken up into teams and allocated to support separate guerrilla or guerrilla HK units. The platoon’s primary weaponry is 18 84-mm recoilless rifles.

Each AT HK section typically consists of a section headquarters and three AT HK teams. The senior team leader also serves as the assistant section leader. The AT HK section may be employed as a section of six recoilless rifles or allocated by team to guerrilla or HK companies. Teams may also be integrated into AT HK teams at company level.

Each team of six guerrillas operates two recoilless rifles, which typically are used together for maximum effectiveness. Each AT recoilless rifle gunner carries three rounds (one round in the weapon and two carried on load bearing equipment). The team leader, assistant gunner, and ammunition bearer all carry at least six rounds each and may carry more depending on the type of ammunition. Additional ammunition bearers may be used when required.

Signal Section

The signal section of the weapons battalion typically consists of a section headquarters, a courier squad, a voice squad, a digital team, and a wire team. The structure and capabilities of this section are likely to be quite similar to those of the signal section in a guerrilla battalion (see below). The signal section leader also serves as the battalion signal officer.

Transport Section

The transport section of the weapons battalion is likely to be quite similar to one of the transport sections in the transport platoon of a guerrilla battalion. (See below.)

Reconnaissance Company

The reconnaissance company of a guerrilla brigade typically has a company headquarters and service section, three reconnaissance platoons, and one intelligence and electronic warfare (EW) platoon. This company may be augmented by other guerrilla units, HK teams, or local sympathizers. Members of this company (and augmentees) may be in civilian clothes, in which case they may not have a weapon or radio and would appear to be noncombatants.

Reconnaissance Platoon

The reconnaissance platoon typically has a platoon headquarters and three reconnaissance squads. A reconnaissance squad can break down into three or four teams. The platoon may be mounted in light trucks or on motorcycles, or may be dismounted based on the tactical situation. Since there are typically not enough vehicles to transport all the teams simultaneously, a squad or team may be dropped off at a point at least part way to the location for its reconnaissance mission and perhaps picked up later at a designated location. Motorcycles can be used to support their individual squad, or they can be grouped together to serve as a high-mobility reconnaissance squad. Squads may be augmented by military or civilian vehicles (motorcycles, trucks, cars, bicycles, carts, or high-mobility all-terrain vehicles) or personnel depending on the mission. Local sympathizers may provide assistance and information.

Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Platoon

The intelligence and EW platoon typically has a platoon headquarters, a signals reconnaissance section, a global positioning system (GPS) jamming section, an EW squad, and an integration squad. Whenever possible, the intelligence and EW platoon operates out of tents, tunnels, caves, or local accommodations. Its activities are always covered, camouflaged, and concealed.

Signals Reconnaissance Section

The signals reconnaissance section conducts radio intercept or direction finding (DF) tasks. The section typically consists of a section headquarters, a signal intercept and exploitation squad, and a radio DF squad. Each of the squads consists of an (intercept or DF) base vehicle, a mobile (intercept or DF) position, and three or more dismounted (intercept or DF) teams. The dismounted teams generally accompany guerrilla units and report back to their squad leader.

The signal intercept and exploitation squad coordinates all intercept and DF operations based on guidance received from the platoon’s integration squad, which receives its guidance from the intelligence and EW platoon leader. The platoon leader, in turn, receives his guidance from the reconnaissance company operations officer. The signal intercept and exploitation squad tasks the DF squad by providing target technical data and priority of location. The effectiveness of intercept (HF/VHF/digital) capabilities and/or radio DF depends on how the enemy uses his electronic systems.